Words of Wisdom

Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.—Albert Schweitzer, French philosopher, physician, and musician (Nobel 1952)

There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher animals in their mental faculties.… The lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery.—Charles Darwin, naturalist and author (1809–1882)

Even in the worm that crawls in the earth there glows a divine spark. When you slaughter a creature, you slaughter God.—Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer and Nobel laureate (1902–1991)

I don’t hold animals superior or even equal to humans. The whole case for behaving decently to animals rests on the fact that we are the superior species. We are the species uniquely capable of imagination, rationality, and moral choice – and that is precisely why we are under an obligation to recognize and respect the rights of animals.

—Brigid Brophy (1929–1995)

The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.—Charles Darwin, English naturalist (1809–1882)

Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself.—James A. Froude, English historian (1818–1894)

If you visit the killing floor of a slaughterhouse, it will brand your soul for life.—Howard Lyman, author of Mad Cowboy

A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.—Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist (1828–1910)

In fact, if one person is unkind to an animal it is considered to be cruelty, but where a lot of people are unkind to animals, especially in the name of commerce, the cruelty is condoned and, once large sums of money are at stake, will be defended to the last by otherwise intelligent people.—Ruth Harrison, author of Animal Machines

The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of “real food for real people,” you’d better live real close to a real good hospital.—Neal D. Barnard, MD, President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Now I can look at you in peace; I don’t eat you anymore.—Franz Kafka, while admiring fish in an aquarium

Life is life – whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man’s own advantage.—Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950)

What is it that should trace the insuperable line?… The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?—Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832)

Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds them. We live by the death of others. We are burial places.—Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519)

As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together.—Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer and Nobel laureate (1902–1991)

As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap the joy of love.—Pythagoras

When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport; when a tiger wants to murder him, he calls it ferocity.—George Bernard Shaw, writer and Nobel laureate (1856–1950)

It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.—Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

When a human being kills an animal for food, he is neglecting his own hunger for justice. Man prays for mercy, but is unwilling to extend it to others. Why then should man expect mercy from God? It is unfair to expect something that you are not willing to give.—Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer and Nobel laureate (1902–1991)

A dead cow or sheep lying in the pasture is recognized as carrion. The same sort of carcass dressed and hung up in a butcher’s stall passes as food.—J. H. Kellogg, American physician (1852–1943)

It ill becomes us to invoke in our daily prayers the blessings of God, the Compassionate, if we in turn will not practice elementary compassion towards our fellow creatures.—Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948)

There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.—Elie Wiesel, writer and Nobel laureate (1928–)

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.—Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist (1901–1978)

In matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place.—Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869–1948)

To forgive and accept injustice is cowardice.—Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869–1948)

It takes two to speak the truth: one to speak, and another to hear.—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer (1749–1832)\

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.—Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (1788–1860)